Anonymous *

A preposterous idea, that Shakespeare wasn't the author of his works, and that he was a nobleman who started churning out sublime plays at the age of nine (if you do the math), is given the big movie, special-effects treatment by director Roland Emmerich ("Independence Day," "The Day After Tomorrow," "Godzilla"). The story jumps back and forth between the young Elizabeth (Joely Richardson) and the young Edward De Vere (Jamie Campbell Bower) and the later Elizabeth I (Vanessa Redgrave) and older De Vere, Earl of Oxford (Rhys Ifans) at the end of her reign.

Not content with upending Shakespeare, writer Larry J. Franco ("Batman Begins") throws in a lusty Queen, bastard pretenders to the throne, and even a little incest while he's at it, to de-mythologize the whole lot. I enjoyed Ifans's performance, Redgrave was a joy to watch, and the effects that create early 17th century London were terrific, but the whole project is ridiculous. On the other hand, it it prompts some viewers to revisit the plays and the real history, it might salvage some redeeming merit. Meanwhile, I am reminded of a worthy tradition at Yale, where every year English graduate students would visit the grave of another Shakespeare denier, and piss on it.